To say 2024 was a momentous year for music is true yet somehow still an understatement. With album releases from Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Ariana Grande, Kendrick Lamar, Tyler The Creator, Billie Eilish, SZA and many more, it suffices to say that this year has been filled to the brim with constantly changing music charts, new trends and tours.
While reception to each album varied greatly online, generally speaking, I thoroughly enjoyed all the new music I listened to last year. To commemorate all of these releases, here is a list of my favorite records from 2024, ranked by my enjoyment of them.
10. “THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT” by Taylor Swift
Announcing her new album at the 2024 Grammys, Taylor Swift’s “THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT” (TTPD) quickly became one of the most anticipated releases of the year. With singles “Fortnight (featuring Post Malone)” and “I Can Do It With A Broken Heart” charting first and third on the Billboard Hot 100, TTPD was not only a hit with the charts but was a notable commercial success with 1.4 million copies sold on release day alone. With its deluxe “ANTHOLOGY” version containing 31 songs total and a run time of over two hours, TTPD is arguably Swift’s most ambitious project yet. While I rarely ever listen to the album front to back, I have a fondness for songs like “Down Bad,” “Fresh Out The Slammer,” “Guilty as Sin?,” “loml,” “Peter” and “The Bolter.” In my personal opinion, TTPD is an undeniably interesting and artistic addition to Swift’s catalog, but it does not touch my heart in ways that albums such as “Speak Now” or “folklore” do, which is why it sits at the bottom of this list.
9. “Radical Optimism” by Dua Lipa
Though perhaps not as iconic or industry-changing as her 2020 album “Future Nostalgia,” Dua Lipa’s “Radical Optimism” is still a great pop record. From the bubbly “End Of An Era” to the passionate “Falling Forever” to the reflective “Happy For You,” this record is built for summer weather and dance breaks. The album’s title “Radical Optimism” is based upon the phrase itself, which encourages people to always look at the positive side of life regardless of what hurdles they may face. Though this album underperformed on the charts (but had great success in singles “Houdini,” “Training Season” and “Illusion”) it still has an energetic message to relay to its listeners that is by no means a step in the wrong direction for Dua Lipa. My favorite tracks are “Whatcha Doing,” “French Exit,” “Happy for You” and “Falling Forever.”
8. “TYLA” by Tyla
Tyla Seethal, known best simply as Tyla, is a South African singer who went viral in late 2023 for her song “Water.” The song would not only propel her into a new dome of stardom and peak at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100, but it would earn her a Grammy for Best African Music Performance. With her debut album “TYLA” being released in March of 2024, she extended her catalog with the standout tracks being the smooth “Truth or Dare,” the energetic “ART” and the serene “Butterflies.” However, she didn’t stop there; in late 2024 she released “TYLA+” with three additional songs that solidified her potential as an artist.
7. “CHROMOKOPIA” by Tyler the Creator
Tyler the Creator is an artist whose art I didn’t admittedly know much about before “CHROMOKOPIA” other than songs such as “ARE WE STILL FRIENDS?” and “See You Again (feat. Kali Uchis.” However, on this album Tyler’s message and artistry are clear from its opening track “St. Chroma” to its closer “I Hope You Find Your Way Home.” This record especially is one I cannot describe easily in words—one must listen to it instead to truly understand its ins and outs.
6. “HIT ME HARD AND SOFT” by Billie Eilish
“BIRDS OF A FEATHER,” “L’AMOUR DE MA VIE” and “LUNCH” are just a few of the hits in Billie Eilish’s “HIT ME HARD AND SOFT.” With “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” earning the mark of the most streamed song of 2024, Eilish is no stranger to success. From her debut album “WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?” in 2019 to today, Eilish has remained not only a culturally relevant figure but an artist who produces all of her work herself (with the help of her brother Finneas). With a whopping seven Grammy nominations in 2025, the themes of love, betrayal, anger and trust found throughout “HIT ME HARD AND SOFT” prove that Eilish is never afraid to try something new.
5. “Willson” by Ashe
Two years after her last album “Rae,” Ashlyn Rae Willson (known professionally as Ashe) returned from hiatus to release “Willson” in early September of 2024. With its lead single “Running Out Of Time” brimming with the bright images of summer, Ashe explores falling in love and struggling to find out who you are as a person with the album’s second and third singles “I Wanna Love You (But I Don’t)” and “I hope you die first.” The self-titled song “Ashe” is a twisting song full of self deprecation whereas “Cherry Trees” is a reflection on a love long lost yet close still. While I don’t think it fully reaches the depth and versatility of its processors “Rae” and “Ashlyn,” “Willson” is still all around an album more than worthy of multiple listens.
4. “Found Heaven” by Conan Gray
Diverting from his usual guitar-ballad sound, American singer-songwriter Conan Gray fully embodies the ‘80s aesthetic on his third studio album “Found Heaven.” Though at first, I did not immediately connect with the record as a whole, over time, this album has slowly grown into a very personal and emotional record for me. All the songs from the heart-stopping “Alley Rose,” the bittersweet “Forever With Me” and the long “Final Fight” swirl together to form a bright array of gut-wrenching pictures as Gray longs for the person he loves to give him a chance (“Lonely Dancers” and “Killing Me”) and reflects on the toxic relationship he’s stuck in-and-out of (“Never Ending Song”). With a great vocal performance from Gray alongside the aid of producers like Max Martin, Gray’s genre change and shot in the dark almost entirely pays off.
3. “Short n’ Sweet” by Sabrina Carpenter
“Oh I leave quite an impression, five feet to be exact” is the opening line of the cheeky and flirtatious “Short n’ Sweet” by Sabrina Carpenter. Backed by the massive virality of singles “Espresso” and “Please Please Please,” throughout 2024 Carpenter has risen from having a small but steady fanbase to becoming a mainstream pop icon. From a memorable Video Music Awards (VMAs) performance to acclaimed music videos to six Grammy nominations and the silly yet iconic “That’s that me-espresso,” Carpenter has rebranded herself into a romantic and brazen figure with bouncy ‘50s curls and bright pink blush. From the unserious and bright “Juno” to the sentimental “Lie To Girls,” Carpenter offers a simple yet touching and, more importantly, fun perspective on love and self-confidence, all wrapped up shortly and sweetly into 12 songs. In my opinion, this is one of the few albums I would label as truly skipless.
2. “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess” by Chappell Roan
From the success of “Good Luck, Babe!” to “Pink Pony Club” to “Casual,” no one can say they’ve quite had the year Chappell Roan has. Though her debut album “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess” was released in late 2023, it would not be until 2024 that the album—alongside Roan herself—would suddenly become one of the most talked about projects of the past few years. With drag visuals, bold performances, an unapologetic attitude and striking vulnerability, this album throws its listener between sobbing on songs like “Coffee” and “Picture You” to dancing on “HOT TO GO!” and “After Midnight.” This, similar to “Short ‘n Sweet,” is an album that I would label as nearly skipless. My highlights are “Casual,” “Kaleidoscope,” “Red Wine Supernova” and “My Kink Is Karma,” though I can confidently say that nearly every song on this album has been my obsession at one time or another.
1. “eternal sunshine” by Ariana Grande
In the midst of one of the largest controversies in her career, Ariana Grande released “eternal sunshine” on Mar. 8, 2024. With little context to the album other than its somewhat controversial lead single “yes, and?” fans had little idea what to expect from Grande’s first album since 2020’s “positions.” To me, this album came virtually out of nowhere, and yet once it was released, I listened to nothing other than it for about a month. Grande details her turmoil in the bittersweet “we can’t be friends (wait for your love)” and “i wish i hated you” and yearns for love in “supernatural” and “the boy is mine.” Grande’s “eternal sunshine,” in my opinion, is arguably her most cohesive and compelling work alongside 2018’s “thank u, next.” All the songs on this album have touched my heart at one time or another, so for this reason this record is my album of the year as not only does it show Grande’s versatility and growth as an artist, but it reminds us all what truly makes us, us.
